Bowing device for zithers.



PATENTED JULY 11, 1905.

J. VON PEIGHL.

BOWING DEVICE FOR ZITHBRS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 23, 1905.

a SHBBTS-SHEBT 1.

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J. VON PEIOHL. BOWING DEVICE FOR ZITHERS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 23, 1905.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

$20675 Z6774 UJde v z ozz F2662 Z No. 794,544. PATENTED JULY 11, 1905.J. VON PEIGHL.

BOWING DEVICE FOR ZITHERS.

APPLIOATION FILED M123, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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PATENT @EETCE.

BOWING DEVICE FOR ZITHERS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 794,544, dated July 11,1905.

Application filed January 23, 1905. Serial No. 242,391- I To all whom itmay concern.

Be it known that I, J OSEPH VON PEICHL, a subject of the Emperor ofAustria-Hungary, residing at Triest, Austria-Hungary, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Bowing Devices for Zithers andSimilar Stringed Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is abowing device for Zithers and similarinstruments by which it is rendered possible to produce by one and thesame instrument the notes of a bow or string instrument, the play of thestrings or chords of accompaniment, (accord and bass strings,) and,furthermore. to cause the strings to vibrate by directly plucking ortwanglingthem by means of a quill or plectrum.

The said bowing device consists in its essence of a series of bow bandsor strands made of horsehair or of a similar appropriate material andwhich are guided by means of rollers or spools over a fret-board stringor over several such strings of an ordinary zither or of a zitherconstructed for the special purpose or of any similar instrument, thearrangement comprising a footboard imparting to the said bands orstrands a to-and-fro motion which causes the fret-board strings tovibrate and sound. WVhile the bowing device is in operation, thelengthening and shortening of the strings may be effected, as usual, bythe left hand of the player, and the accompaniment may be played by theright hand, the thumb of which may be employed for playing thefret-board strings, as well as the accompaniment strings.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 show a bowing deviceinvolving my invention in sideand front elevation. Fig. 3 is aperspective view of a part of the bowing device. Figs. 4 and 5 show inplan some details of the device.

The instrument (in the instance shown in the drawings a zither Z) restson a table A, the latter carrying on its front part the bowing deviceproper and below its board the pedal device. The latter device may alsobe arranged on a separate frame placed below the table. As a rule thedevice comprises four vrangennent of the roller 9 ers which areindependent of one another and are mounted in a frame R. The latter isvertically adjustable and is shown as adapted to be held in an adjustedrelation by means of a set-screw la in a clamping device K, which isadapted to be lixed to the front edge of the table-board. As a rule thefour bands are symmetrically distributed in the frame R- that is to say,two of them at the right and two at the left side ofthe frame. Thisframe R supports with its upper bracket-arms 1 four rollers 7', eachpair of which is preferably arranged coaxially, as shown in thedrawings. A forked support 2 is pivotally connected to the other side ofthe frame, facing the instrument. This support is extended over thefret-board of the instrument Z and serves to carry four rollers 7*,Figs. 1 and 4:, arranged in alternating order and is provided with aslot-guide 3, Fig. 1, adapted to be engaged by the lower end of asliding piece 5, movable along the guide-bar 4: of the frame. The forkedsupport 2 is raised by adjusting the sliding piece 5 from the right tothe left and lowered by the inverse motion of the said piecethat is tosay, by shifting the same from the left to the right. Furthermore, fourslotted'arms 6, Figs. 1 and 5, are disposed on the two side parts of theframe B. These arms independent of each other are movable in horizontalguides, and set-screws 7 serve to hold the said arms in the desiredposition. Each of these arms 6 extends below the fretboard strings andcarries aroller 1 and these rollers r are, as shown in Fig. 5, arrangedin alternating order corresponding to the ar- Four guide-rollers r arearranged on the frame or on a part laterally connected with the frame,each pair of these rollers being disposed ,coaxially.

Over the said rollers the bowing bands or strands b 7) I) b" are guidedin such a manner that every band passes over an upper roller r, a roller'1" on the adjustable forked support 2, then passes the correspondingfret-board string, and over one of the rollers r and o in a downwarddirection. The two ends of the bands are connected with cooperatingpullingstrings 2 .2 .2 in such a manner that every band in connectionwith the corresponding string constitutes an endless pulling device.Each of these pulling devices be 1/2 W2 W) passes over one of therollers 1", journaled in the base R of the frame, over guide-rollers rat the front part of the table, and over an other of the rollers r backto the frame. The base or lower part R" of the frame, which is providedwith four pairs of such guide-rollers r for the four pulling-strings 2 22 .2, may be connected with the frame R, rigidly or adjustably or insome cases with the tableboard or the table-frame.

The pedal device, by means of which the to and fro movement of thepulling device is eficcted, comprises generally a number of .pedals 1,corresponding to the number of strands pivoted around the axis 8 withcontrollable friction. These pedals, in the present case four in number,are provided with levers 1/19 fp, which preferably are adapted to belengthened or shortened. It is preferable to have these four leversarranged close together midway the table, Fig. 2, and directly connectedto the corresponding pulling-strings .2 .e' .2 e". The position and thesize of the pedal is such that two of the same are adapted to be movedby the right foot and the two others by the left foot, either separatelyor simultaneously. As a rule the lower part of the levers 1) p p p isbent or cranked, as shown in Fig. 1, and the connecting-pieces of thelevers and pedals are placed below the axis 8, by which arrangement theadvantage is obtained that the player is able to let his feet slidelaterally over all the pedals without meeting with any obstacle. Thedescribed arrangement of the levers p p p p renders it possible bymodifying the shape of the bent upper ends of these levers, Fig. 2, toconnect the bowing-bands of the left part of the framefor instance, tothe rightside pedals, or vice versa. This is an advantage which may beof importance with relation to the musical standpoint. By operating thepedals an alternating to-and-fro motion is imparted to the bowing-bands,and the strings of the musical instrument, which in the present case isa Zither, are caused to sound. If it is possible to guide the bands 6?)in astraight line from the rollers 9" of the forked support 2 to therollers 7 as is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, then thebefore-mentioned slotted arms 6 may be dispensed with, whereas therollers 9*" must be arranged adjustably. It will be remembered that thepulling-bands have been described as having theiropposite ends connectedwith the pedal-levers, (see, for example, Fig. 8,) so that when the footportions of said pedallevers are depressed the upper portions thereofwill be swung toward the front of the device in order to impartlongitudinal movement to said pulling-bands and a corresponding movementto the bow bands in order that the latter will wipe along the strings ofthe musical instrument with which the device is for the time beingcooperative.

In order that the tones or notes produced by the swept strings be pureand true, the relative position of the strings and bands must be welladjusted. This adjusting is effected by raising or lowering the systemof rollers or by laterally shifting the same, and the exact and minuteadjusting is obtained by means of the sliding piece 5 in cooperationwith the su 'iportingarms 6. By shifting the sliding piece 5, Fig. 1,from left to right an increase of the pressing of the band upon thestrings, and therefore an increase of the body or fullness of the tones,is obtained. The shifting in opposite direction produces a decrease ofthe body of the tones. This adjusting device is arranged in such amanner that by shifting the sliding piece to the left beyond adetermined limit the bands may be lifted off the strings, so that insuch a case the possibility is afforded to play the fretboard strings inthe usual manner by means of the quill or plectrum. By this arrangementa new mode of playing is rendered possible that is, a combination oftones produced by sweeping and by plucking the strings. The guide-bar 4of the sliding piece 5 may also be pivotally connected with the frame R,as shown in Fig. 1, and adjustably fastened in the desired position,whereby the manipulating of the device for regulating the body of thetones is facilitated.

The supporting-arms 6 of the rollers r being independently andseparatelyadjustable, the possibility is afforded to control thepressure of each single bowing-band upon the corresponding string quiteindependently from the other bands. The same result may be obtained byjournalingthe rollers 1', which are located above the fret-board stringsin separate and independently-adjustable supporting parts instead ofarranging these rollers in a common forked support, (2.) In the samemanner the lower guiding-rollers1-" may be arranged adjustable, eachindepend' ently from the others, by guiding the bands, as mentionedbefore, from the rollers 1* up to the guide-rollers r in a straightline.

If a separate table constructed for the present purpose is notavailable, a special preferably dismountable frame supportingthe pedalarrangement and the rollers 1''" may be placed under an ordinary tablesupporting the instrument.

The aforesaid and described controlling deas the supporting device forrollers r formed of the separate and independently-adjustable parts 6,and the pedal arrangement may also be employed in case that thebowing-bands are not in direct connection with the pullingstrings, butpass separately each over a corresponding system of rollers. In thiscase the rollers are actuated with the aid of corresponding transmissiondevices of any known type by means of the pedal-levers p 19 19 39*.

I claim 1. A bowing device for musical instruments comprising aplurality of bow-bands, a swinging member provided with guide-rollersover which the bands to engage the strings or a musical instrumenttravel, means for holding the swinging member in an adjusted position,and mechanism for operating the bow-bands longitudinally to cause themto act upon the said strings.

2. Abowingidevice for musical instruments comprising a plurality ofbow-bands, aswinging member provided with guide-rollers for the bands, asliding member arranged, on its movement, to adjust the swinging member,and mechanism for moving the bow bands back and forth to cause them tosound said strings. I i

3. A bowing device for musical instruments comprising a plurality ofbow-bands, a swinging member provided with guide-rollers over which thebands travel, a swinging guide member, means for holding the swingingguide member in an adjusted position, a slide for adjusting saidfirst-mentioned swinging member and carried by said swinging guidemember, and means for moving the bowbands back and forth to cause themto sound the strings of the instrument.

4. In a bowing device for musical instruments, a plurality of bow-bands,pullingstring for the bow-bands, and pedal-levers for operating thepulling-strings in a direction to cause an endwise or back-and-forthmotion of the bow-bands, to sound the strings of the instrument, thepedals of the levers being, when the latter are at rest, in a commonplane, to permit thefree sliding of the foot from one pedal to another.7

5. A bowing device for musical instruments involving a plurality ofbow-bands for sounding the strings upon a musical instrument, adjustableguiding means for the bow-bands, pulling-strings for the bow-bands, andpedal mechanism arranged to act upon the pullingstrings to cause anendwise movement of the bow-bands.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH VON PEICHL.

VV'tnesses:

ANTONIO GHEZRo, G IsEPPE KtiRcH.

